Strength Enduring
Page 1
Strength Enduring
A Talon Pack Novel
Carrie Ann Ryan
Contents
Acknowledgments
Strength Enduring
Choice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
FACTION
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
SNATCHED
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
MAX
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
TO HEEL
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
CHEYENNE
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
ALPHA
A Note from Carrie Ann
About Carrie Ann Ryan
More From Carrie Ann Ryan
Excerpt: Whiskey Secrets
Strength Enduring
A Talon Pack Novel
By: Carrie Ann Ryan
© 2018 Carrie Ann Ryan
ISBN: 978-1-943123-87-2
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Cover Art by Charity Hendry
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This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
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Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan
“Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to pull your heartstrings and make your pulse pound! Her wonderful Redwood Pack series will draw you in and keep you reading long into the night. I can’t wait to see what comes next with the new generation, the Talons. Keep them coming, Carrie Ann!” –Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of CRAVE THE NIGHT
“Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to draw readers in with passion, raw sensuality, and characters that pop off the page. Any book by Carrie Ann is an absolute treat.” – New York Times Bestselling Author J. Kenner
"With snarky humor, sizzling love scenes, and brilliant, imaginative worldbuilding, The Dante's Circle series reads as if Carrie Ann Ryan peeked at my personal wish list!" – NYT Bestselling Author, Larissa Ione
"Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy shifters in a world full of passionate happily-ever-afters." – New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend
“Carrie Ann’s books are sexy with characters you can’t help but love from page one. They are heat and heart blended to perfection.” New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Rylon
Carrie Ann Ryan's books are wickedly funny and deliciously hot, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. They'll keep you up all night!” USA Today Bestselling Author Cari Quinn
"Once again, Carrie Ann Ryan knocks the Dante's Circle series out of the park. The queen of hot, sexy, enthralling paranormal romance, Carrie Ann is an author not to miss!" New York Times bestselling Author Marie Harte
Dedication
To my readers.
Thank you for still loving my wolves.
Acknowledgments
With every book comes a time where I feel like I need to scream at my characters and yet I know that I’ll find my way out of the abyss.
Writing a book might be a solitary adventure, but I know that in some respects I am never alone.
Chelle - Thank you for being my sounding board and my wonderful editor.
Charity- Thank you for the amazing cover.
Stacey and Kennedy - Thank you for coffee every morning so I can find the energy and the worlds to write all the words.
Viv - Thank you for sitting down with me and plotting. I totally needed it.
To the group of women I talk to daily about business and mental health - Thank you for knowing when I needed you and when I needed to breathe.
To my readers - Thank you again for being with me in this world for years and never backing away. The Talons aren’t finished yet and I know that’s because of you.
To Dan - I love you and miss you every day. I wish you were here to read this one like all the rest.
Happy Reading,
Carrie Ann
Strength Enduring
In the penultimate novel of the Talon Pack series from NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan, an Enforcer must make the ultimate choice when it comes to a human woman with a secret she doesn’t know she holds.
Kameron Brentwood has only one thing on his mind: defeating the enemy. He doesn’t have time for a human woman who sets his teeth on edge and makes his wolf prowl. It shouldn’t matter that she’s his mate because he’s always thought that mating is a distraction. Yet as soon as he gets to know the woman, he figures out that there’s no hiding from the attraction he feels for her.
Dhanielle Coburn has always been on the outside looking in when it comes to the Talon Pack, but she’s not about to let fate and the moon goddess decide her path for her. If and when she takes Kameron as a mate, it will be her choice. Yet when she suddenly finds herself in the Pack’s inner sanctum, deeper than she ever thought possible, she has to fight not only her need for the man in front of her but also a hidden secret about her family she didn’t even know she had.
When the choice is pulled from both of their hands, the two will need to learn who they are apart, and who they can be together. Because there’s more to mating than a mark and a prophecy that has come back to haunt them. And even though they may be fated, the ultimate sacrifice just might take them both in the end.
Choice
Dreams had been a part of her life since before she could speak. She’d seen countless first breaths, myriad final ones. She’d seen war, triumph, agony, and despair. And through it all, she’d known that few things could change the outcomes of the dreams she had.
And only true patience and sacrifice could change the dreams she bore when she woke.
The birth had gone well, her daughter screaming through the pain but using her strength of will and character to bring forth new life into the world. Her son-in-law had been the one to hold his wife, coaching her through the panic and stress, but had taken as much pain as he was able.
His powers could only do so much in the face of what was natural, what was good.
And when the one who dreamed, the one who had watched her daughter bring life, was there to guide the new baby from its mother’s womb, she hadn’t had time to weep, no chance to breathe.
In an instant, she dreamed, but didn’t dream. She saw years pass, saw the beauty in the moment, the strength of the girl who would one day be a woman in her arms. She saw the power of the magic within her veins, the worth of her soul and heart.
Then she saw the sacrifice that would be made.
The terror that would ebb.
And the loss that would come when they failed.
The witch who now held her granddaughter didn’t speak for a full minute as she cradled the new life, though in her waking dreams, decades passed. Her daughter and her son-in-law didn’t say a word, their eyes focused on the witch and their new child. They had seen the woman in her dreamstate before, knew that waking her would mean changing fa
te in ways that were far more than unpredictable.
But then the witch opened her eyes and looked down at the purity in her hands, the hope that could be if one demanded it, and knew what she had to do. She looked up at her daughter and the son of her heart and smiled.
Then she lied.
Later, when the new parents held their baby, the now-grandmother gathered her supplies, knowing what must be done. It would hurt, it would shatter the trust before them, but she knew the path that would come. There was still hope in the darkness, still a light she could beg for.
And because of that hope, she would hold her granddaughter one last time.
As her daughter and son-in-law slept, the witch who dreamed stood above them, wrapping the two in an embrace of love and magic. They let out shocked gasps in their slumber, but she knew what must come next, for they wouldn’t remember the whys of it in the morning. They wouldn’t remember much of anything having to do with a certain part of their lives at all.
That was one good reason their kind was so far away from the others of their powers. If there were more, the grandmother might not have been able to do what came next.
Then she went to her granddaughter’s room and held her close, rocking the babe in her arms as tears slid silently down her cheeks.
“Stand up,” she whispered.
“Open up.” She kissed the baby’s cheek.
“Give up.” She set the child down.
“Sacrifice begets sacrifice.”
And as the baby stared at her with eyes far older than she should have at her age, the grandmother opened her arms, letting the magic run through her, doing what must be done.
And then she was no more. Not even a memory.
But the child slept under the moonlight, as did her parents in the next room. And when they woke, they couldn’t mourn what they did not know, couldn’t reach inside and touch a power that had once held them close.
For it was no more.
But along the wind, a whisper would come, and a child would grow, and a grandmother with tears in her eyes would be remembered…if only the magic so chose.
Chapter One
Kameron Brentwood’s fist smashed into the rogue’s face, the bones in the wolf’s cheek cracking beneath his clenched fingers as he gritted his teeth, his own bones aching at the contact. This wolf, this man, had once been part of another Pack on the other side of the world, had once been a functioning member of society. Then the world, the Pack’s bonds, and the rogue’s own wolf had all become too tangled in a web of strain and panic, and the man had lost control of the wolf entirely.
It was Kameron’s job to take care of the rogues near the Talon Pack wards. At least the ones that didn’t come to the Pack looking to take out the Alpha. Those, Gideon—his brother and Alpha—had to deal with himself. The leader couldn’t ignore a challenge according to Pack law.
Because this particular wolf had gone too far and had not only killed his family but also a human along the way, there was no hope for redemption. No way for a life to continue under the continued watch of the world and their own needs as wolves.
The rogue in human form stumbled to the ground, his eyes all wolf, no longer able to shift fully because he’d broken far beyond redemption.
And with one quick movement, Kameron reached out and snapped the rogue’s neck, the sound echoing through the trees.
Now, Kameron was alone in the forest, only the sound of his own heartbeat filling his ears as the animals around them had gone silent in the presence of two predators. He slowly let the man who had once been an honored and strong member of his Pack fall to the ground, with Kam’s hand under the other man’s head so he wouldn’t land too hard. There may not be pain anymore, but that didn’t mean Kameron would let the man end without dignity. The other Alpha had let Kameron and his people know that this rogue might be on the way as they’d been trying to track his movements for over a year now. Somehow, even without control, the broken wolf had been able to evade them all. Except Kameron.
Because Kameron was the Enforcer of the Talon Pack. One of the strongest wolves in the area, and one of the best Enforcers in the world.
And he’d just killed a man because of his duty.
He let out a breath, running a hand over his face before growling. He looked down at his bruised knuckles. Little blood covered his hands visibly, but he could still see the invisible, red trails on the tan of his skin.
He’d barely broken a sweat taking out the rogue, and as he called his people to help clean up the mess, he knew he’d have to run out the rest of his energy or he’d end up hurting someone in practice later on. That was the problem when his emotions ran high like this. The Pack and his family thought him the man of ice, the man of such control that he felt nothing. He never let others see his emotions, never let them feel them through the Pack bonds, but they were there.
And he hated every damn one.
Once his crew came in to take the body so they could send him back to his Pack for a proper burial, Kameron went around the perimeter again to ensure that the den was still safe. The war with the humans was over, and thanks to new treaties and laws, their land was safe from satellites and prying eyes—at least for the time being—but that wasn’t the only thing he was checking for. The Aspens had been quiet for too long, and Kameron hadn’t been able to get ahold of their contact, Audrey, who was also the Aspen Pack’s Beta.
He’d known as soon as she helped his brother and sister-in-law, betraying the secrets of her Pack in the process, that things wouldn’t end well, but he still felt responsible for what happened to her.
Even as he thought that, it wasn’t Audrey that drifted through his mind. No, it was another woman, a human with a sweet and delectable scent that refused to leave his thoughts. He didn’t want to think about Dhani and what that scent meant, so he wouldn’t. The more he did, the less focused he would be. And with yet another war on the horizon, he had to be sure he was strong enough to lead his team and follow his brother, his Alpha, onto the battlefield.
A human with a sharp tongue and a delectable scent would only complicate matters.
His wolf pawed at him, annoyed that he was ignoring what was right in his face, but it wasn’t as if he could stop what he was doing and follow the promise of a connection that could turn out to be nothing. He’d seen the way losing focus could hurt a Pack, and the Talons relied on him for their protection. He couldn’t let his attention wander to something sweeter—not with the Aspens and their insane Alpha, Blade, hiding so close somewhere in their woods.
He couldn’t scent them, and knew they weren’t there at the moment, but they’d be back. Watching. They always were. And when they came back again, Kameron would take them out. He wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt what was his. Not again.
And even if it took all he was, even if he had to push away anything that could have been another connection, he’d do it. Because saving his Pack and keeping Blade and his ilk away was all that mattered.
He let out a growl when his wolf huffed at him, annoyed by his train of thoughts. His wolf would just have to get over whatever it was currently feeling. Kameron had, after all. Or at least he was trying.
He knew he wasn’t being fair and was most likely being so pigheaded that he was going to get himself in trouble, but it wasn’t as if he could change the way he’d thought his whole life. Especially not because of one scent that wouldn’t leave his mind.
It would be safer for everyone if he focused on the threat at hand and then saw if fate were truly testing him when it came to a certain woman. That wasn’t how it worked for most wolves, but Kameron wasn’t most wolves. He knew his other half and could control it better than most of the Pack could with theirs, and that meant they’d come to an understanding. And when the time came, and if Dhani truly were his mate, he’d try to figure out the next step. Dhani was smart and would understand why he had to stay away in order to keep his focus on the enemy and not be distracted by something that could change the way
he thought and fought.
And, once again, he knew he wasn’t as convincing as he needed to be. But he couldn’t change his plans now.
“I’m an idiot,” he growled, then went back to his patrol. He needed to go back inside the den wards soon to have dinner with his family, and that meant he only had an hour or so left of being on high-alert and trying to get that scent and what it meant out of his mind. At the moment, he was still on Pack land, meaning there shouldn’t be anyone who wasn’t Talon or a guest of the Talons anywhere near. The fact that there had been a rogue wolf earlier just set his own wolf on edge. He knew the night wasn’t over. The warded area of the den was what hid their people from view. The wards themselves didn’t stretch out across the entire Pack land, as that would be far too vast and taxing on the witches and magic that held the wards in place. So that meant there were layers of patrols on each section of the perimeter, ensuring that they were doing their best to keep their land safe.
He stalked around for a few more minutes until an unfamiliar and very human scent drifted to him. He held back a growl. He knew of only three humans—one of them not so human anymore—who were allowed on Pack land, and this scent didn’t belong to any of them.